Data provided by ActiveRain.com. Join 215,590 Real Estate Agents on the world’s largest Real Estate Social Network.
In January 2012, ActiveRain and Market Leader surveyed more than 2,000 real estate agents and brokers to understand what software and marketing support they’re using in their business and how much they’re spending on these necessary tools of the trade. The ActiveRain Real Estate Network combined that survey data with the National Association of REALTOR’s® 2012 Member survey to get a rich view on real estate agent income and expenses.
Real estate agents spend time and money on many different real estate marketing strategies. SEO, social media and blogging took the top prize as the most-used advertising or marketing source. They’re relatively low-cost advertising outlets and social media is becoming pervasive with the growth of FaceBook, Google Plus, LinkedIn and Twitter. The consistent surprise with every survey of marketing tactics continues to be direct mail with 40 percent of real estate agents using direct mail to support their business. After social media and direct mail are paid advertising and marketing on the Internet. Home buyer and seller lead generation ranked as the third most popular form of advertising with 35% of respondents using Internet lead generation.
This could be a positive sign for the real estate market. Advertising on national real estate web sites like Zillow, Trulia and REALTOR.com and using Pay-per-click marketing on search engines were fourth and fifth most-used forms of advertising. This is not surprising since agents buy advertising on national real estate sites like Zillow, Trulia and REALTOR.com to drive home buyer and seller leads.
Top producing real estate agents earning more than $100k per year have the ability to spend more and do spend more on marketing across the board. And, they’re spending in areas both online and offline. Top agents spend more on online lead generation, search engine marketing, national real estate web sites, and direct mail. In fact, 20 percent of agents earning more than $100k actually support the community through local sponsorships like Little League, high school sports, and their local church.
Here’s the breakdown:
Real Estate Marketing Average Usage Average Price Agents Earning $100k
Pay-per-Click (PPC) 16% $140 $197
Home buyer or seller lead generation 32% $155 $191
Paid advs on national RE websites 26% $128 $161
Sponsorship/ads on local website 10% $77 $107
Sponsorship/ads on newspaper website 9% $86 $122
Direct mail 40% $108 $158
Rack Publications 11% $145 $206
City newspaper 10% $98 $149
Local newspaper 14% $99 $145
Town bulletin, church, etc. 8% $56 $73
Local sponsorships 13% $78 $102
Marketing personnel costs 17% $183 $222
Television 3% $139 $173
Radio 5% $191 $216
SEO, blogging and social media 45% $78 $106
Paid training or coaching 16% $175 $228
For more details about the study, go to The Active Rain Real Estate Network.
Tracey C. Velt is a writer, blogger and editorial strategist who specializes
in the business of real estate. For the past six years, she's been writing
and editing for REAL Trends, is the editor of the REAL Trends blog and the editor of LORE magazine. Prior to that, she served as an editor for
Florida Realtor magazine and continues to contribute to multiple real estate
publications, both in print and online.
